A Very Fine Marble Bust of a Lady here attributed to Joseph Nollekens.

  

The Fine Marble bust of a Lady.

The bust is not signed or dated.

This post makes the suggestion that the bust is of The Honourable Anne Seymour Damer.

by Joseph Nollekens (1737- 1823), of circa 1784.

Some weeks ago I was asked by Milo Dickinson managing director fine art dealers  Dickinson of Jermyn Street, London to research the identity and origin of a very fine but anonymous bust which lacked any inscription then in their possession. The bust is now in a private collection.

As anyone familiar with this blog will know my main field of interest is in mid 18th Century English portrait sculpture but that my researches take me down the highways and byways of English sculpture from the 16th and into the 19th century.

https://www.simondickinson.com/

In my opinion this bust is true masterpiece of English portrait sculpture and I feel so lucky and privileged to have become involved with it. Thank you very much Milo Dickinson.

The quality is superb and the original surface appears to have survived unblemished and more importantly uncleaned - retaining its original polished surface and is the product of a master at the height of his powers.

I have written at some length on English sculpture and in particular portrait busts - in particular those of the two most important masters of the mid 18th Century Louis Francois Roubiliac and Michael Rysbrack and have touched on the slightly later works of  Joseph Wilton, and Thomas Banks but have only touched on Nollekens

It is very unusual for such an high quality sculpture to remain undocumented, unmolested, hidden and unrecognised for over two hundred years - 

The bust was purchased at the sale by Nigel Ward & Co Auctioneers of Pontrilas of the private collection of  The Right Honourable Lord Peter Wynford Innes Rees Q.C. (d.2008) of Goytre Hall near Abergavenny, Monmouthshire. He was the son of Thomas Wynford (Dagger) Rees (d. 1959) who in turn was born in Anglesey the son of TM Rees a Welsh non conformist who was minister Bethel Welsh Wesleyan Chapel at Barry, South Glamorgan

The house is 16th Century with Edwardian additions. It would appear that the house was purchased by Thomas Wynford Rees in 1948.

Given this provenance it is most unlikely that the bust came down through the family but was perhaps purchased as an anonymous bust at one of the many break up sales of country houses after the Second World War.

I am very grateful to Milo Dickinson for allowing me to post this research and for providing the photographs.

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Detail of the Socle and Eared Support to the Bust.

With the slightly convex or serpentine eared support typical of  many of Nollekens earlier busts - the use this form of support is peculiar to Nollekens based on classical precedents mualso much employed by Nollekens' master in Rome Bartolemeo Cavaceppi - he appears to have stopped using this form of support for his busts  after about 1800.

See my previous  post which details the earlier Nollekens busts using the eared support on the socle- https://bathartandarchitecture.blogspot.com/2024/11/some-earlier-nollekens-busts.html